Israel News

Sipping wine in a 150 yr-old German Knights Templer cave

Ovad & Shani describe pouring all their passion into their dream wine bar ‘Jajo’.

Two years ago, when I met Ovad and Shani Zetuni for the first time, they convinced me they had something interesting on their hands. Together we hopped over cesspits, rolled in the sand, got some fresh air and climbed down to find a damp cave with high, empty vaulted ceiling.

Shani and Ovad Zetuni in the new Jajo bar. – Photo: Ilya Melnikov

Our conversation echoed and there was a dripping noise in the background. Workers were busy reinforcing the walls, peeling off old material and plastering them anew, and the ceiling was festooned with ladders.

Category: Israel News | Tags: food, restaurant, wine

IDF Capture 2 Terror Suspects Crossing Gaza Fence

The 2 Palestinians caught by the IDF after they breached the security fence to sneak into Israel, are now held during investigation.

By Ari Yashar

The border with Gaza remains turbulent. On Friday, two local Arabs were captured by the IDF after they breached the Gaza security fence.

The two were heading towards Israel for intents that remain unclear. They have been taken for investigation by security forces.

IDF forces discovered two explosives planted against the security fence just this Tuesday, during routine activities in the area. The explosives were neutralized without causing any damage or injuries.

Meanwhile last Thursday, an advanced terror tunnel was discovered by the IDF. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: Gaza, IDF, security fence, terrorism

EU diplomats warn of impending regional firestorm over Temple Mount

The EU report contains an implicit criticism by Muslim religious authorities & Palestinian politicians to deny the historic affiliation Jews have to the Temple Mount.

By Amira Hass

European Union diplomats stationed in Jerusalem and Ramallah are warning of regional conflagration over the Temple Mount. A March 18 internal report to Brussels raises caution around the changing status quo at the holy site and the growing tension triggered by the demands of right-wing Jewish groups.

The Shoafat neighborhood of East Jerusalem, November 2013. – Photo: Olivier Fitoussi

“There remains a significant risk that incidents at this highly sensitive site, or perceived threats to the status quo, may spark extreme reactions locally as well as across the Arab and Muslim world, and have the potential to derail the peace negotiations,” according to the report, which was obtained by Haaretz.

Category: Israel News | Tags: East Jerusalem, EU, Temple Mount

New IDF Rules of Engagement to Golan Hezbollah Attack: Shoot on Sight

IDF soldiers will now shoot on sight when encountering suspicious-looking movement in the area of the Golan Heights border fence with Syria.

By Moshe Cohen

The IDF Northern Command on Thursday announced that it was changing its orders regarding opening fire in areas along the Golan border fence. Anyone from the Syrian side who comes near the fence should expect to be shot, the IDF said.

The new orders were issued in response to a terror attack attempts that took place in the area recently. Last week, IDF forces clashed with terrorists, opening fire on terrorists who placed an explosive on the border fence with Syria. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: border fence, Golan Heights, Hezbollah, IDF

Israel will not release 4th group of 26 Palestinian security prisoners Saturday

By law, the names of the murderers chosen for release must be made public 48 hours prior, not including Shabbat, in order to allow time for appeals to the High Court of Justice.

Israel’s Prime Minister heads committee that decides which prisoners will be released.

By HERB KEINON, KHALED ABU TOAMEH

Israel will not release a fourth batch of 26 Palestinian security prisoners Saturday night as stipulated under the framework deal that led to the renewal of negotiations last July.

Gaza woman walks past posters of Palestinian prisoners – Photo: REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

The five-minister committee chaired by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu that is empowered to choose which convicted terrorists will be released would need to have met on Wednesday to make a Saturday-night release possible. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: Peace Process, prisoner release

1st Time Ever: Palestinian students visit Auschwitz in organized visit

Visit to Nazi death camp is aimed to teach Israeli & Palestinian students about the other side’s suffering, in effort to see how empathy can facilitate reconciliation.

By Matthew Kalman

A group of 30 Palestinian students arrived at Auschwitz-Birkenau on Thursday, in what is believed to be the first organized visit by Palestinian students to a Nazi death camp.

The gate of the former German Nazi death camp of Auschwitz.- Photo by AP

The students are spending several days in Kraków and Oświęcim guided by two Jewish Holocaust survivors.

A news blackout on the trip was requested by the organizers.

Category: Israel News | Tags: Al-Quds University, Auschwitz, Birzeit University, Holocaust, Jewish World, Nakba, Palestinians

Pope Francis II Plans Full State Visit

Pope Francis’ upcoming visit to Israel is planned as a full state visit, with official meetings scheduled with the President, Prime Minister & Chief Rabbis

By David Lev

Assuming Pope Francis makes it to Israel on his planned trip in May and is not delayed by the ongoing strike by Foreign Ministry workers, his stay will include visits to the Church of the Nativity, a Catholic site, as well as to the Temple Mount, where he will visit the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the Western Wall.

Pope Francis – Reuters

The Pope’s schedule was announced Thursday by the Latin Patriarchate, responsible for the affairs of the Catholic Church in Israel. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: Pope Francis

Christian Israelis Take On Anti-Israel Campaign on Facebook

Israel’s Arabic-speaking Christians come out strong against fellow Christians whose comments defame the Jewish state on Facebook.

By Ryan Jones

The Israeli Christian Recruitment Forum on Thursday came out swinging against yet another malicious propaganda campaign targeting Israel on the popular social network Facebook.

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The campaign appears to center around a composite picture of six= dilapidated local churches that are presented as false evidence that the Jewish state discriminates against and seeks to remove Christians from the Holy Land.

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Such notions have undergirded a new Evangelical Christian movement that paints Palestinian Christians as the suffering Jesus to Israel’s strong-armed Romanesque oppressor. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: Israeli Christians

Australia’s Woodside buys 25% of Israel’s largest gas well, the Leviathan

Australian energy firm to acquire 25% ownership of Israeli reservoir in $2.71 billion deal.

By SHARON UDASIN

Amid months of uncertainty and lack of transparency surrounding Leviathan gas reservoir arrangements, Australian hydrocarbon firm Woodside is expected to sign a $2.71 billion agreement to acquire a 25-percent share of the field on Thursday evening.

Leviathan gas field - Albatross - 09012012

Leviathan holds 453 billion cu.m. of gas [file] Photo: Courtesy of Albatross

The agreement will build upon a memorandum of understanding signed with the reservoir’s partners on February 7, which provided a framework for final negotiations, following months of uncertainty and anticipation surrounding the agreement. An original agreement in principle occurred among the parties in December 2012, which had called for Woodside to acquire a larger, 30% stake of the reservoir.

Category: Israel News | Tags: Avner Oil, Delek, energy, Israel Australia, Leviathan, Leviathan gas field, natural gas, Noble Energy

Soldier LIED Blaming Arab Attack for Silly Fall

IDF soldier admitted to Police investigators he was not attacked, rather simply fell down.

By Gili Cohen

An Israeli army soldier admitted to police that he was not stabbed by a group of young Arabs on Thursday in Jerusalem, but instead fell, contrary to his first version of events.

The separation fence near the Jerusalem neighborhood of Pisgat Ze’ev. – Photo: Emil Salman

Earlier it was reported that the soldier’s alleged Arab assailants fled the scene in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Pisgat Ze’ev after stabbing him in the leg and lightly wounding him.

Police believed the attack was nationalistically motivated and launched a search for the attackers.

Category: Israel News | Tags: East Jerusalem, IDF soldier, Jerusalem

3 Arab Terrorists Stab IDF Soldier in Jerusalem Neighborhood

Terrorist attack in Jerusalem’s northern neighborhood of Pisgat Ze’ev left the IDF soldier with light wounds.

By Uzi Baruch, Ari Yashar

Three young Arab terrorists carried out a stabbing attacking Thursday morning, targeting a soldier in Jerusalem’s northern neighborhood of Pisgat Ze’ev.

The soldier was left with light stab wounds in his leg, after being attacked on Nativ Hamazalot Street in the capital city.

Magen David Adom (MDA) crews treated the soldier, and evacuated him to the Hadassah Mount Scopus Hospital nearby. He was released shortly thereafter.

Police have opened an investigation to track down the attackers. Apparently the stabbing was nationalistically motivated, a crime carrying a heavier penalty. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: IDF soldier, Jerusalem, terrorist attack

IDF’s all volunteer Desert Reconnaissance Battalion celebrates 20 years

IDF officials say the number of Arabs, Bedioun, Circassians & other minorities who volunteered for the special unit has increased dramatically, including new recruits from East Jerusalem.

To his soldiers who never finished high school, the Unit commander recommends IDF educational courses.

By Shlomo Diaz

The Israel Defense Forces Desert Reconnaissance Battalion celebrated on Tuesday 20 years since its formation, as dozens of new recruits — each and every one of them volunteers — joined its ranks. Optimistic IDF officials have forecast an upward trend, predicting significantly more recruits in the future.

IDF Desert Reconnaissance Battalion commander Zahai Rahal – Photo courtesy: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit

Throughout Israel, a steadily increasing number of Bedouin, Circassians, Christians and Muslim Arabs have expressed interest in joining the Desert Reconnaissance Battalion.

Category: Israel News | Tags: IDF, IDF Desert Reconnaissance Battalion, minorities

Israel’s Former Defense Minister: Hezbollah will soon pick which building to hit

Former Defense Minister Barak says advanced missile technology will soon become cheaper for Hezbollah & other terror organizations to acquire in just five years’ time.

By Ynetnews

In five years, terror organizations will have missiles so precise they could “choose which building in Israel to hit,” former defense minister Ehud Barak warned on Wednesday.

Israel’s former defense minister Ehud Barak – Photo: AP

These advanced missile technology “will spread and become cheaper to terror organizations like Hezbollah and to Hamas militants in Gaza,” Barak continued, speaking at a panel on the use of science and technology in Israel’s security and intelligence. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: Ehud Barak, Hezbollah

BDS pressure Rolling Stones to quit Israel concert is ignored

Day after official announcement, pro-Palestinian propagandists call on legendary rock band to cancel performance ‘in apartheid Israel.’

By Haaretz

A day after producers officially announced that the Rolling Stones will be performing in Israel for the first time ever on June 4, Palestinian campaigners have launched an appeal urging the British rock group to cancel the event.

The Rolling Stones perform during their concert at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Feb. 26, 2014. – Photo: AP

“We are writing to urge you to refrain from playing in apartheid Israel and not to condone Israel’s violations of international law and human rights against the Palestinian people,” the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) said in a statement. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: Apartheid, BDS, Israel boycott

israelandstuffcom | March 26, 2014